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Week 4 Preview: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

#iufb4gameday

Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

Who, When, Where: Indiana is on the road for the first time this year, traveling to Winston-Salem, North Carolina this Saturday to face the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Kickoff is at 12:30pm, and the broadcast crew for the ACC Network will be Tim Brant and Dave Archer, assisted by Roddy Jones on the sidelines. The Hoosiers have never faced Wake Forest on the gridiron. Wake enters the game 2-1, with wins over Elon and Army, and an ACC loss to Syracuse.

Numbers of Note: 44-0, the scoreline of Indiana vs. its opponents in the third quarter this year, and the primary reason why IU is still undefeated. +5, Indiana's turnover margin through three games (4 fumbles recovered, 3 interceptions, 1 fumble lost, 1 pass intercepted). 203, Jordan Howard's rushing total against Western Kentucky last week, part of his nation-leading 507 yards. 91, the return yards Mitchell Paige accumulated on his way to the endzone from Western Kentucky's first punt. 2,225, the amount of career passing yards separating Nate Sudfeld (7th) from Antwaan Randle-El, IU's career leader.

Fun Facts About Wake Forest: The Wake Forest student newspaper is called the Old Gold and Black, a reference to their school colors. They also have an official literary magazine called 3 to 4 Ounces. Their primary student event is called "Shag on the Mag", where a giant tent is set up in the middle of a quad for a dance. The "Shag" in the name refers to the Carolina shag, which is apparently a specific type of dance and not at all what I expected it to be.

Notable Wake Forest Alumni: Carroll O'Connor (actor best known for playing Archie Bunker), Eddie Timanus (USA Today sportswriter and Jeopardy! champion), Charlie Crist (former governor of Florida), Dr. Jerry Punch (ESPN commentator), Brian Piccolo (former Chicago Bears running back), Muggsy Bogues (former NBA player), Tim Duncan (current NBA player), Chris Paul (current NBA player), Billy Packer (CBS college basketball analyst), Arnold Palmer (retired professional golfer)

Prediction: If you know exactly how Indiana's gonna play on Saturday, please raise your hand. For those of you who kept your hands down (and aren't liars), you know that me trying to offer any sort of idea what to expect from IU is basically impossible at this point, given that trying to quantify this team with words the last three weeks has been anywhere from incorrect to laughable. If this game goes anything like the previous three, IU will inexplicably fall into a halftime deficit, have a spectacular third quarter, and ride it out from there to the victory. Then again, maybe getting away from Bloomington will shake the Hoosiers into gear earlier, and they might pull out a multiple score win for just the second time this season. At this point, your guess is as good as (or possibly better) than mine. For now, give me IU 42 - Wake 28.

Next Week: Ohio State (and maybe ESPN's Gameday) heads to Bloomington to open the Big Ten season.